National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah are visiting India Sunday at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to push forward the peace process.

The two leaders of NSCN, the oldest separatist group in India, have been operating out of Southeast Asian cities for the past 37 years.

Nagaland, where more than 25,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency since India's independence from Britain in 1947, is a Christian-majority state with two million people.

The upcoming talks follow discussions in Bangkok in October when the two sides said they were committed "to finding an early and mutually satisfactory solution to the Naga issue".

"The expectations are indeed very high and we all are eagerly waiting to hear from the two leaders as to what progress is made in the peace talks with New Delhi," M. Vero, president of Naga Hoho, the apex tribal council in Nagaland, told IANS from Kohima, the state capital. 

Swu and Muivah are expected to meet the prime minister, Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, opposition leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani as well as India's peace negotiator K. Padmanabhaiah. 

"After a few days in New Delhi, the two leaders will arrive to a rousing public reception in Dimapur," the state's commercial hub, NSCN leader Kraibo Chawang said.

Although Naga leaders are upbeat, some have their fingers crossed.

"We want peace no doubt but at the same time are not really over-excited about the visit of the NSCN leaders," said Bendang Ao, a college student in Dimpaur.

Both Muivah and Swu are expected to hold a series of meetings with tribal elders to seek their opinion for furthering the peace talks.

After wide-ranging consultations the duo is expected to return to New Delhi after Christmas. 

"They will then start a more comprehensive, structured, intensive and time-bound negotiations to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement with the Indian government," another NSCN leader said. 

The NSCN leaders will confine their talks aimed at settling political issues and the issue of integration of Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast. 

The rebel group has been sticking to its demand for carving out a "Greater Nagaland" by slicing off parts of neighbouring states with sizeable Naga tribal populations.

The other northeastern states are opposed to the move.

"Both NSCN and New Delhi must compromise and come down from their rigid stance so that we can look forward to a permanent settlement," Vero said.

"The two sides must sacrifice something to ensure peace and we on our part will stress on the need for unification among all the Nagas," he added.

Analysts say a solution could include greater autonomy and more financial help for the state, which is underdeveloped economically, but rule out territorial integration of Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast.

The NSCN entered into a ceasefire with New Delhi in 1997 and the two sides have held peace talks in European and Asian cities.

--Indo-Asian News Service